The present provisional application relates to an apparatus and method for tracking energy charging characteristics in an electric vehicle.
Many governmental bodies are introducing incentive programs as an effort to convince people to utilize alternative fuel cars such as electric vehicles. Among these incentive programs are programs which allow people to receive a discount or other credit for electricity they use to energy their electric cars. Since electric cars can be charged at any location, and not only at designated “charging stations,” it is desirable to differentiate between electric energy used for charging the vehicle and energy used for other purposes. In addition to differentiating between energy used for general purposes and energy used to charge the vehicle, it is desirable to track the energy used to charge the vehicle in order to properly benefit from the incentive systems.
Without a device capable of differentiating between energy used for charging an electric vehicle and energy used for other unrelated purposes, as well as tracking and reporting the energy used for charging, electric car owners are restricted to charging their electric car at designated charging stations in order to receive the benefits of any incentive programs.